Collaborative design is an increasingly common practice in modern computer design and manufacture. As design challenges become more complex, a greater variety of specialized skills is required for success, often requiring the participation of several unrelated entities having the requisite skills. As a result, parties to a particular collaborative design process may be competitors in past or future endeavors. These potential competitors may be able to take advantage of designs, design processes, or manufacturing processes revealed to them in the course of a collaborative design session. This is particularly a concern where multiple competing contributions to the same collaborative design are being evaluated to maximize efficiency or minimize cost.